The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

32 OCTOBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL we should take lessons from post–Cold War globalization and economic liberalization. In that process inequality between developed and developing countries decreased, but inequal- ity within developed countries increased. While globalization generated unprecedented mate- rial wealth, the unanticipated environmental, economic and cultural externalities of liberal trade policy—such as the loss of manufacturing jobs and the viability of the family farm— brought unanticipated and pro- found change to the culture and landscape of those areas, and subsequent generations are often worse off than previous genera- tions. For example, transforma- tional U.S. government moves toward cleaner energy sources will be accompanied by significant, and potentially volatile, trade-offs. Internationally, the knowledge that vulnerable people are disproportionately affected by environmental decisions is critical, and we often focus on the binary “developed” versus “developing” country distinction. But the reality is that within developed coun- tries, disparities are also often quite pronounced. West Virginia, USA; Taiyuan, China; and Katowice, Poland, must all grapple with the displacement of coal industry workers. If the United States and other countries can manage to move from reliance on fossil fuels while supporting and transitioning sizable sections of the American population, the new world systemwe are building will have more legitimacy. We need to act fast. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sobering August report on global warming, the next decade is critical for humanity to avoid the worst climate change scenarios. However, we remain divided over the words we use to describe environmental issues. In rural Wisconsin, where I come from, we have traditionally grown gardens for food. We raised local, free-range animals and relished a closeness to nature long before the slow food movement and REI. Some folks recoil at words like “environmental justice” or “climate crisis,” but this should not be taken as a rejection of the underlying notion that poor communities and communities of color in the United States are inordinately affected by the effects of climate change or that we need to do more to protect nature and help people recover from the effects of natural disas- ters and extreme weather. No matter what words we use to describe the phenomenon, cli- mate change affects every Ameri- can. Our fates are tied together. Our government should work to bring together diverse domestic environmental stakeholders in the same way the Obama admin- istration forged the Paris Agree- ment among as diverse countries as Germany, Saudi Arabia, China and the Marshall Islands. Speaking in concrete ways helps people from different groups identify with each other and find common ground. Based on what I see in my home community in Monroe County and else- where in Wisconsin, I am optimistic that we are moving toward a collective awareness of the problem. Our democratic system, community by community, will help us learn how to talk about the problemwithout retreating to political corners. Practical, Community-Centered Solutions As an invited observer to the Monroe County Climate Change Task Force meetings over several months, I have been inspired by the group’s focus on practical solutions to real-world problems. With my ear trained by hundreds of hours negotiating multilateral texts, I could hear the community searching for its own vocabu- lary to address the natural phenomenon that everyone observed. This experience solidified for me that we can resolve disagree- ments by listening carefully to community member interests on issues ranging from establishing stream bank monitoring systems and evaluating county culverts and bridges for vulnerabilities to U.S. Head of Delegation Ambassador Marcia Bernicat (now acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs), at left, and the author enjoy a light moment at COP 25 in Madrid in December 2019. COURTESYOFHOLLYKIRKINGLOOMIS The knowledge that vulnerable people are disproportionately affected by environmental decisions is critical.